DANNY GRAINGER reckons a Scottish Cup run would mask a multitude of sins behind the scenes at Hearts.

But he still dreams of the winners' medal to make up for the might-have-beens in his own career.

The 24-year-old full-back admits the Jambos players still face a worrying wait for their wages this month with another looming tax bill at Tynecastle.

He insists, though, they won't take their fears on to the pitch as they battle St Johnstone for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Grainger said: "The Cup is important for us psychologically - with all the off-the-park goings on, we need to start producing more on the park.

"And a Cup performance could mask a few things and get the mood back to being good at the club and good for the fans too.

"At the start, the situation was playing on the boys' minds, people have mortgages and things like that, but now we're taking it in our stride.

"Barring the Celtic game, we've shown we've put the off-field problems behind us and are getting on with our football.

"It has definitely been trying, though, there's no hiding that.

"Obviously you would like to think it won't be the case that the tax bill starts it all again. We've had two Sky games in four days, and with a bit of luck the replay as well, and that's more money generated.

"A few players moved on in the window - okay, not as many as we thought - but you would like to think come payday, which is around the day the club have to pay the tax bill, that all bills will be sorted."

Despite his age, the Englishman has already missed out on three cup finals in his career - and fallen just short in another two semis.

And having sat in the stand as a Gretna player watching Hearts win it all in 2006, he wants a taste.

That starts at McDiarmid Park, where they'll fight to face either Ross County or St Mirren, and he said: "I was cup-tied and missed out on the Gretna final.

"I missed out on two with Dundee United as well, then lost in two semis with St Johnstone, so I've not had a lot of luck in the cups.

"That's not something I want on my CV. The Gretna final obviously gets talked about a lot in our dressing-room - especially by Rudi Skacel!

"It was actually Gavin Skelton who missed the penalty to give Hearts the win and he's one of my best mates, so it couldn't have been any worse a day for me.

"But in the year Dundee United won it, I went down to the final with Noel Hunt and Jim O'Brien.

"We were a close-knit group of boys up there and to see them lift the trophy and have a few drinks with them afterwards, we saw how much it meant to them.

"It makes you want to drive on and experience that yourself. The two semi-finals I was in were great days, so to be in the final would be massive."